Weber Maschinenbau relies on renewable energy

01/21/2009

Weber is investing a six-figure total to reduce energy costs and minimize CO² emissions.

The company has grown continuously since it was established in 1981. The Breidenbach location in Marburg-Biedenkopf currently employs a staff of roughly 300 in production and administration on 5,000 m². The energy costs make up a significant proportion of the company's total costs. Weber recently invested a six-figure total to reduce energy costs and minimize CO² emissions. "I am aware of my responsibility as a business owner. On one hand, we can and want to contribute to climate protection and make our production environmentally-friendly. And on the other hand, we must keep our costs under control to secure jobs in the long term." says Günther Weber, founder and owner of Weber Maschinenbau.

In particular the administrative building, built in the 1980s, received a thorough energy refurbishment. The roofs and concrete façade were also fitted with additional thermal insulation and were upgraded to the technical state of the art. A heat pump heating system replaced the oil-fired heating system. Whereas 22,000 litres of oil were previously required to heat the building, now it only takes a few KW of electricity to operate the heat pump. For safety reasons, and for days with extremely low ambient temperatures, a gas condensing boiler unit was installed. These measures alone reduced the energy consumption and CO2 emissions by over 65%.

The specific energy requirement of an average existing building is 70 to 280 KWh per square metre. Thanks to the comprehensive refurbishment measures, Weber succeeded in reducing this value to just 19.5 KWh per square metre. However, that was not enough for the company from Breidenbach. 130 photovoltaic modules now generate up to 27,000 KWh of electricity annually. The electricity generated is primarily used for internal requirements and only the remainder is fed into the grid.

The building, refurbishment and renovation work took six months. However, Weber is far from finished. Phase 2 of the rebuilding measures is planned to start soon. For example, the entrance area is to be rebuilt as a large, friendly foyer.

The hard work definitely paid off! Weber not only invested in environmental protection and site safety, it has also already improved the look of the building at the same time. Today, the former white concrete façade has been replaced with metal and glass. Companies that produce and sell premium products has to embody this externally. In the end, the redesigned premises also affected the employees' satisfaction and motivation. They are our company's most valuable resource. You can only do good work if you feel at home.

The building work was designed and implemented by:Dipl. Ing. Friedrich SteinbergIngenieurbüro Schubert + SteinbergSchlossstraße. 2057334 Bad LaaspheTelephone: +49(0)2752-4765-3Fax: +49(0)2752-4765-59Internet: www.architekt-statik.de

The heating systems were built by Maik Wickel GmbH in conjunction with the Building Services department at Weber Maschinenbau GmbH.Maik Wickel GmbHHirtsgrund 757334 Bad LaaspheTel. +49(0)2752-1554